Ian offers his takeaways from the Fanex Auction League. Who were the steals? And which players got overpaid?
Every auction is different, and it seems like you learn something in most of them. My most recent effort, in the Fanex Auction League, was no different.
In this one, I thought everyone was overpaying coming out of the gate. So no surprise that I sat out on the side in the early going. I think about 70 field players (QB-RB-WR-TE) were sold before I bought my first guy. That's not news. That's relatively common in an auction. If you see that the other guys have overspent by a combined $200, then you wait until later when the prices come down.
But the deals came in a way that I didn't anticipate. The prices for the running backs never really cooled off the way I thought they would. And the prices for the wide receivers (most notably, the guys between 10th and 30th on my board) were way lower than I expected.
When I finally kicked into gear in the middle of this auction, my first order of business was to go after four good wide receivers. This is a PPR league with three starting receivers and a flex, so I wanted four that I could plug in every week. Those guys pile up a lot of points, and by carrying just four, it also allowed me to avoid using roster spots on backups at the position -- allowing me to carry more backup running backs. (With the injuries that occur at running back, I wanted lots of No. 2 tailbacks -- some of those guys will become very good in October or November.)
This strategy, however, didn't mesh well with the flow of the auction. When I locked in on my wide receivers, it left me powerless to stop other teams from collecting some great deals on wide receivers late. The Dish Adams team in particular. He paid fair-market prices at QB, RB and TE, getting a nice core there (Brees-Foster-McCoy-Witten), then he was able to get four wide receivers at really good prices late. Cecil Shorts III, Reggie Wayne, Dwayne Bowe and Steve Smith. Collectively, he got those guys for about half of what they're worth, making his team a worth opponent.
Injuries played a big role in this auction. Dennis Pitta, Jeremy Maclin and Percy Harvin all were sold off just before injuries significantly hurt their value. I got Pitta. I though it was a deal at the time -- a $20 player for $10 -- but now Pitta's out for the year. I still have two top-6 tight ends (Gonzalez, Rudolph), but it hurts the value of my team. Prior to the injury, I was shopping Pitta around.
But whatever. I've still got plenty of good players. I'm average at QB, I've got the nice quartet of wide receivers, and the great one-two punch at tight end. At running back, I've got eight guys. Chris Johnson and Montee Ball are the starters, then I led the league in grabbing backups. Some of those guys will hit. If you look at running backs who've started 16 games in the last decade (and also averaged over 100 total yards per game), about a sixth of those guys missed at least a month the next season.
Even with the Pitta injury, I finished with the most "value" on my team. The two other teams with the highest value, as luck would have it, are in my division, so strength of schedule should be tough for those teams.
| VALUES OF FANEX FRANCHISES | |
|---|---|
| Ian Allan | $271 |
| Dish Adams | $236 |
| Tony Holm | $224 |
| T.C. Cannon | $220 |
| Duane Cahill | $206 |
| Brady Tinker | $199 |
| Chris Dolfi | $185 |
| Matt Schauf | $181 |
| Scott Fish | $168 |
| Michael Nease | $168 |
| Rick Serritella | $156 |
| Jim Day | $146 |
Here are the best "deals" in my opinion, for players worth at least $10. I had Golden Tate worth $7.00 prior to the Harvin hip injury.
| BEST DEALS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Salary | Value | Owner |
| • Golden Tate | $1.00 | $15.00 | Tinker |
| Jacquizz Rodgers | $2.00 | $13.51 | Allan |
| Alshon Jeffery | $3.00 | $12.07 | Nease |
| Steve Smith | $6.00 | $19.96 | Adams |
| Greg Jennings | $6.00 | $19.77 | Dolfi |
| Cecil Shorts III | $6.00 | $17.53 | Adams |
| Emmanuel Sanders | $5.00 | $13.32 | Allan |
| James Jones | $7.00 | $18.46 | Tinker |
| Tony Gonzalez | $9.00 | $23.65 | Allan |
| Kyle Rudolph | $6.00 | $15.67 | Allan |
| Eric Decker | $9.00 | $21.43 | Holm |
| Lance Moore | $6.00 | $13.63 | Day |
| Stevie Johnson | $8.00 | $17.33 | Dolfi |
| Vernon Davis | $7.00 | $14.92 | Holm |
| Pierre Garcon | $11.00 | $22.46 | Cahill |
| Jermichael Finley | $5.00 | $10.13 | Cannon |
| Jordy Nelson | $9.00 | $18.03 | Cahill |
| Justin Blackmon | $8.00 | $14.01 | Holm |
| Wes Welker | $14.00 | $23.28 | Cannon |
| Greg Olsen | $11.00 | $17.66 | Tinker |
| Dwayne Bowe | $15.00 | $23.94 | Adams |
| Reggie Wayne | $14.00 | $22.30 | Adams |
| Victor Cruz | $19.00 | $30.20 | Allan |
| Mike Williams | $13.00 | $20.50 | Day |
| Montee Ball | $17.00 | $26.26 | Allan |
| Roddy White | $25.00 | $37.13 | Allan |
| Vincent Jackson | $20.00 | $29.41 | Holm |
Here are the worst deals, among players who went for at least $10 at the auction:
| MOST OVERPAID | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Salary | Value | Owner |
| • Dennis Pitta | $10.00 | $0.00 | Allan |
| Ryan Tannehill | $13.00 | $1.00 | Dolfi |
| • Jeremy Maclin | $11.00 | $1.00 | Dolfi |
| Johnathan Franklin | $10.00 | $1.08 | Fish |
| • Percy Harvin | $28.00 | $4.00 | Day |
| Jay Cutler | $12.00 | $2.28 | Schauf |
| Joe Flacco | $10.00 | $3.77 | Serritella |
| Robert Griffin III | $22.00 | $8.98 | Dolfi |
| Mark Ingram | $10.00 | $4.66 | Serritella |
| Ryan Mathews | $13.00 | $7.16 | Serritella |
| Stevan Ridley | $20.00 | $11.11 | Fish |
| Darren McFadden | $25.00 | $13.94 | Schauf |
| Eli Manning | $18.00 | $10.50 | Nease |
| Adrian Peterson | $60.00 | $36.53 | Tinker |
| Tony Romo | $21.00 | $12.84 | Tinker |
| David Wilson | $28.00 | $17.99 | Dolfi |
| Jamaal Charles | $54.00 | $36.11 | Nease |
| Matthew Stafford | $21.00 | $14.43 | Cahill |
| LeSean McCoy | $41.00 | $29.03 | Adams |
| Frank Gore | $21.00 | $15.04 | Day |
| Steven Jackson | $28.00 | $20.07 | Day |
| Giovani Bernard | $20.00 | $14.40 | Schauf |
| Chris Ivory | $16.00 | $11.52 | Holm |
| C.J. Spiller | $36.00 | $26.31 | Cahill |
| Lamar Miller | $20.00 | $15.14 | Fish |
| Rob Gronkowski | $21.00 | $15.95 | Day |